Replacements found for appointments committee

Panel to okay next IDF chief of staff, other senior roles

Two potential candidates to replace members of the advisory committee responsible for appointing senior officials to government positions have been brought forth, a move which is expected to clear the way for the appointments of the next IDF chief of staff and other senior roles.

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who was asked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to propose the replacements for the Advisory Committee for the Appointment of Senior Civil Service Officials (the Goldberg Committee), announced he had updated the government secretary that he has chosen Prof. Talia Einhorn and Moshe Terry.

Einhorn and Terry would replace former National Security Council head Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Nagel and CPA Iris Stark, who were forced to resign early last month following an interim order by the High Court of Justice.

The proceedings were frozen due to their apparent closeness to Netanyahu and the possible conflicts of interest which were feared could influence the nominations. This was considered especially vital regarding the selection of the next police chief, who would be responsible for leading criminal investigations against the prime minister.

“Since the prime minister is likely to have an interest in the identity of the police commissioner who is expected to be appointed soon, he cannot be involved in the proceedings related to the appointment of the committee that has to approve the appointment of the commissioner,” Supreme Court Justice Menachem Mazuz was quoted by Ynet News as saying at the time.

In the wake of the interim order, it was not possible to convene the committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Eliezer Goldberg to hold a discussion on the chief of staff and commissioner positions.

Candidates for senior positions like the chief of staff must by law be vetted by the appointments advisory committee to ensure they meet all the requirements and are qualified to serve.

Einhorn is full-time professor at the Department of Economics and Business Administration at Ariel University, a senior guest researcher at Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Management and a full-time member of the International Academy of Comparative

Law.

Terry holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science and a master’s degree in economics and business administration from Bar-Ilan University. He served in a number of senior positions in public service and in the economy, including the chairman of the Securities Authority and the director-general of the Postal Authority.

Current IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot is set to step down from his role at the beginning of 2019, after serving close to four years as the IDF’s top officer.

Among the candidates to succeed him are his deputy, Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, former deputy chief of staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan, head of operations directorate Maj.Gen. Nitzan Alon, and former head of the Southern Command, Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir.

According to a report by Ben Caspit in The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication Maariv, Netanyahu wants to appoint Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir as the next chief of staff, while Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman reportedly prefers Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon for the top post, or current Deputy Chief-of-Staff Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi as his second choice.